His Mother's Locket
by lexieconextreme
Summary: Max and Logan have a chance at a life together, but that's taken away in an instant. But life continues, and once again they have a chance. A chance for new life. (T cuz Max curses a bit)


**A/N: I was just watching the episode with Logan's brother's wedding the other day and was also thinking about this other Dark Angel fanfic at the same time and somehow came up with this. I hope you guys like it!**

 **While watching it this last time, however, I finally realized that it was Samantha Smith playing...what was her name? Valerie? Meaning that Mary Winchester was totally in Dark Angel like five episodes before Jensen was.**

 **And flirting with our beautiful Original Cindy, too. Mmmm. I ship it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel or most of the characters within.**

 **PS I changed the words and events a little in the first part.**

* * *

 _~The Locket~_

Logan had only just made up his mind after arriving home with Max to talk to his Aunt Margo to try and get his mother's locket back. But as it turned out, that wasn't necessary.

She smiled softly as she handed it over. "Genetically-engineered pickpocket," Max said, with laughter in her voice. Logan stared at it a moment in shock, gaze then moving to Max. He set the locket in his lap gently. "Thank you," he said, mind relaxing at the thought of _not_ having to get in Margo's face about it.

"Of course," Max replied, standing swiftly. Even after knowing the transgenic for only a little less than a year, Logan still found himself continually amazed at the fluidity of movement that all genetically-engineered hybrids seemed to share.

Max stared him in the eyes a moment, then looked away. "I better get going. I gotta get Original Cindy home." Before she could leave the room, Logan caught her hand gently.

"Really, Max. Thank you."

She smiled back at him, then freed her hand and went downstairs to drive Original Cindy home.

"I'll see you later," he continued softly, wondering if she'd heard.

She had.

* * *

 _~The Cure~_

Max stared at Alec in shock, then at the syringe held tightly in her hand. "This..." she whispered. "This is the cure?"

Alec nodded, wondering if Max was okay. "The doc from Manticore said to give it about twenty-four hours to take effect, and to make sure you _thoroughly_ clean and sanitize everything you own before going anywhere near Logan."

Max was silent a moment, still processing what this could mean. What this could spell for her and Logan's future. Wow. Now that was an odd thought. She and Logan might actually have something of a future together now, however strange. Finally, Max took a deep breath, relaxing her muscles and unclenching her hand. She smiled up at Alec happily, more than a little gratefulness mixed in. She held out the syringe.

"Do me the honors?"

A smirk pitched its way across Alec's face. "What? You mean you want me to inject you with this serum? You want me to be responsible for you and Logan hooking up?"

Max's eyebrow rose and her arm began to retract. "Well, if you don't wanna..."

Alec was quick to interrupt, sitting down beside his somehow-somewhat-kind-of sister and all but ripping the needle from her hand. "I never said anything about not wanting to do it," Alec said, trying to maintain some semblance of dignity, though it was difficult when Max was trying desperately to stifle giggles.

Giggling. The _one_ girly thing that Max did naturally and that wasn't forced on her by Original Cindy, and it had to be giggling. Geez. Alec could just never get a break.

"I was just clarifying the situation," he continued, inserting the needle into Max's outstretched arm. "Wanted to make sure that that's what was happening and I didn't accidentally get my head taken off because I misunderstood."

Max snorted at that, holding her arm still as Alec pushed down the plunger on the syringe. "Yeah, I'll bet that's it." She watched eagerly as the liquid drained into her veins, then rolled her sleeve back down.

"Twenty-four hours?"

"That's what the doc said."

"Right then. I am going to go vigorously clean everything I own."

Alec smirked. "I think I'll help you."

* * *

 _~The Wedding~_

Max stared anxiously into a full-length mirror, nervously patting down ruffles in the slim white dress and combing fingers through artfully tousled hair that looked nothing short of tangled to her.

Max forced herself to stop and take a deep breath. She opened her eyes and stared at her reflection. Large, dark brown eyes stared back. The dress she had on reminded her of the dress she'd worn to Logan's brother's wedding, but white instead of the reddish-brownish color that had complimented her complexion so well. The white worked beautifully as well.

Max forced herself to try and calm down. She paced anxiously in front of the mirror, struggling to breathe. "I'm a transgenic!" Max muttered to herself. "A genetically-engineered killing machine! I should not be freaking out about this!"

She stopped again, plumping down in the armchair that sat nearby her dressing table. She put her face in her hands. "I _definitely_ shouldn't be freaking out," Max said to herself. "I've been through and done a lot worse than this! So why does getting married sound so freaky?!"

Cindy chose that moment to walk in. She looked quite beautiful in her pale blue strapless bridesmaids dress, and Max knew she'd chosen well. Original Cindy looked at her for a moment, and Max felt like the other woman was analyzing everything about her behavior better than any Manticore psychologist or trained transgenic ever could.

Cindy came to her side and knelt, careful of the delicate material that her dress was made of. "Are you freakin' out, boo?"

Once again, Max struggled to force air into her lungs. "Yeah. I'm freakin' out. And I don't know how to stop." Her hands flew back into action, trying to straighten out imaginary flaws in the dress, picking at the white polish on her perfect, pedicured nails, or running fingers through dark hair.

Cindy gently took Max's hands and set them in the transgenic's lap. "Stop fidgeting, sugga. It isn't gonna make you any less nervous." Cindy tried not to smile at the helpless expression on her best friend's face. It wasn't very often that something came along that Max couldn't handle by herself, though when it did, Cindy was always gonna be there to help out if she could.

Max looked back at Cindy, and Cindy could see just how stressed out about this wedding her friend was.

"Why'm I so nervous, Cindy?! I'm marrying Logan! The same guy I've been in love with for four years! I'm marrying him!"

This time, Original Cindy did smile. "You're nervous because it's natural, boo. It's a big commitment to make, even if you're completely sure that this is what you want."

Max shook her head. "I don't know, Cindy. To me, all marriage is the two people involved living together, sharing their life together, and asking each other where or what they want to eat for the rest of their lives. And we're already doing that! So again, I don't know why I'm so nervous."

Cindy laughed. "I think you've got the basics of being married down aiight. And your description is right on the dolla dolla, too." Cindy leaned over and gently hugged her friend. "You'll be fine, boo. You'll see. Everything is going to be all good, all the time."

Max smiled at the reference to their old friend, who'd moved back to Jamaica to be with his "woman", and escape the ever-persistent "Weeen-ston". He still sent them all letters three times a month.

Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door. Cindy stood carefully, walked over to the door and pulled it open. Alec stood outside, looking dashing in a tux. Cindy gave him an appraising smile. "You clean up aiight, boo!" Alec laughed, stepping into the room. "So do you, OC," he replied warmly, and Max was suddenly reminded of how callous he'd been at their first meeting. She wanted to laugh, thinking about how if all had gone according to Manticore's plan, Max and Alec might be parenting three-year old children together. The laugh quickly died in her throat as she considered what that really meant, and the laugh was replaced with a shudder, albeit a half-hearted one. Alec wasn't that bad a guy, once you got to know him.

Alec turned away from Cindy to look at Max and smiled. "And how's the bride-to-be doing? You alright, Max?"

Max didn't reply for a moment, focusing on breathing. Then she stood and faced Alec. "I'm cool. Just got a little panicky for a second."

Alec studied her for a moment, and she could see the concern in his eyes. Max rolled hers. "Really!" She insisted. "I'm fine! Ready to go walk down that aisle!"

Alec and Cindy shared an amused look, then Alec held out his arm. "Shall we?" Max smiled and linked her arm through his and walked out the door beside her brother, Cindy following quickly after.

...

Max almost lost it again at the top of the isle. She was suddenly glad she'd chosen Alec to walk her down the aisle, as Joshua might not have been much help in this situation. But Alec seemed to sense her distress almost immediately, and held her arm closer and tighter than just a moment before. _I'm here for you_ , he seemed to say, and Max squeezed back gently.

Any fear she'd been feeling faded the instant she saw Logan at the makeshift altar. In fact, all happiness and excitement she'd had before bubbled to the surface, and it was all she could do not to sprint down the aisle and just get married already.

Again, Alec seemed completely in tune to Max's emotions, because the arm that had been holding her up a moment before suddenly became slightly restraining, and a good thing too. Max wanted to do this properly, and was damn glad Alec somehow knew what was going on her strange, genetically-engineered brain and was there to stop her or help her when needed.

Alec tossed a slight smile Max's way, then began to lead her down the aisle. On either side, the seats and pews were filled with friends and family, transgenics from Manticore and humans from outside Terminal City who'd somehow managed to sneak in without being arrested by cops. Max was particularly shocked to see Normal in one of the seats. She almost expected him to start yelling "Bip! Bip! Bip!" so the ceremony would be over and he could get back to work. But he just gave her a slight quirk of the mouth, which Max guessed was about as close to a smile as Reagan Ronald could ever possibly get.

Even more surprising was Herbal, who sat in the front row next to Sketchy, Natalie, and Kendra. Beside him was a pretty, dark-skinned woman who Max assumed was Herbal's "woman". She hoped they'd gotten rid of Weeenston without too much trouble, or Herbal getting violent.

Herbal smiled back at her, nodding toward the altar like _Well? You gonna get married or not?_

Max smiled, turning her head back towards Logan and the altar. Alec walked her the rest of the way up, right to the step. He released her arm, moving to an empty seat beside Kendra. Max was happy she'd not brought her cop-boyfriend. Or Sven.

Logan stood tall and proud, and Max could see the happiness in his eyes. Her super-hearing could hear a slight humming coming from the braces that helped Logan to stand, and her smiled widened. She was happy he could stand on their wedding day.

Joshua stood eagerly behind Logan, holding a small pillow in his clawed hands. Max could see bright rings gleaming in the sun from their positions on the pillow. She figured she could probaby fence hers for a couple thousand bucks.

But she would never fence her wedding ring. Never never.

Asha, their acting priest, repeated the lines Max had only ever heard in movies, never figuring she would be the one answering them.

And Logan... his vows. They were beautiful. Max felt like she might cry from happiness, but she didn't want to ruin her makeup, or even just start crying at the altar. She sure as hell wasn't gonna cry in front of all these transgenics, either.

So Max held them in.

Asha's eyes moved from Logan, who'd finished. "And Max?" She asked gently.

Max took a deep breath and stared into Logan's eyes, barely able to contain her huge smile. "Logan, I - From the moment I met you, we had this connection. I was tryna' steal your stuff, and you pointed a gun at me. Your basic first meeting." A smile appeared on Logan's face and he chuckled, along with everyone else in hearing distance.

"We've moved so far from that moment. Four years. One year was all it took for me to fall in love with you, and two more before I could allow myself to love you, even to touch you. One more year, and here we are. Getting married, surrounded by pretty much everyone I love. Four years is a long time, and I hope to God that we are never separated for that long. Never in our lifetimes.

"My point is, Logan Cale, that I love you with all my heart. I will never again make the mistake of denying myself the pleasure of being with you. I love you, and I will spend the rest of my life with you if I can."

Asha smiled, and to her surprise, Max found the temporary priest crying herself. _That was beautiful_ , the blonde mouthed before setting her shoulders and setting her book down on the table behind her.

"By the power invested in me not by the Church or the State, but by our very own Maxocracy, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride!"

They kissed, and Max's world finally seemed complete.

* * *

 _~A New Life Begins...Now~_

Max rolled her eyes at Alec's antics, comfortable in her place on the couch. "I'm fine where I am, Alec. Honestly."

The other transgenic stared at his sister worriedly. "Are you sure about that? You _are_ rather close to the due date, and there are no good doctors in Terminal City at the moment. Seriously. It's like they all decided it was best to pack up and leave the very moment this kid was conceived."

Max glared at him, absently rubbing her swollen belly. "Alec, the baby is due for two weeks. I'm fine."

"You _do_ know that babies can be born early right, boo?" Cindy asked, just arriving from her own small apartment on the other side of the housing complex. She sat down beside Max and lounged against the side.

"Yes, I do know that. But I don't think she will be."

Cindy's lips quirked, and Alec, defeated, sank into a nearby chair with a sigh. "Still havin' that argument with Logan, huh?"

Max rolled her eyes again. "Oh yeah. He still thinks the baby's a boy, but I keep telling him it's a girl."

Alec's face scrunched in confusion. "Couldn't you have just gotten an ultrasound or something?"

Max shook her head. "Where would we have gotten an ultrasound? TC isn't exactly rife with them, and it's not like Logan, or you guys for that matter, would let me leave just to find out the gender of my baby."

Cindy stared at her friend accusingly. "You tryna' guilt-trip us or somethin'?"

Max smirked. "Possibly."

"Yeah, well, it's working," Alec sighed again, scrubbing his hand through his hair. "Where's Logan supposed to be again?"

"He's at a meeting across the city with the other division of transgenics, since the city split in everything. It looks like they've been dividing into different factions, and Logan's trying to keep everyone calm and rational."

Alec made a face. "Well, as much fin as that doesn't sound like...Does he have a pager on him?"

Max nodded. "He has mine. He said there would be a phone at the headquarters if we needed to contact him." Max winced slightly, then smiled. Alec was instantly worried. "You okay Max?"

She smiled at him, beckoning with her hand. "I'm fine, Alec. Come here for a second, though."

Alec approached cautiously, and Max shook her head. Her hand darted out and grabbed his, then pressed his palm gently against her stomach. His eyes widened in wonder, then excitement. "She's kicking!"

Original Cindy leaned forward as well, touching her hand to Max's stomach as well, almost withdrawing at the hard thump her hand received. "Pretty hard, too."

Max nodded, stroking her stomach lovingly. Cindy watched her for a moment, then chuckled softly, leaning back against the couch again. Alec watched Max for a moment, clearly worried she was suddenly going to go into labor or something before returning to his previous seat.

Max shifted, pulling her feet out from under her body and setting them on the floor. Alec opened his eyes and stared at her. "And where do you think you're going?"

Max glared back. "To get food. I'm hungry."

"You know Cindy or I could just get it for you, right?"

"I don't want to just sit around and do nothing all day. I have to do something!"

Alec sighed again. Max had been impossible before, but now that she was pregnant it was even worse. He moved to stand in front of where she sat, took her hands and carefully, gently, pulled Max to her feet. Cindy stood as well. "I'll go with her, boo. Make sure she doesn't give or nothin'"

Alec snorted, sitting back down in Max's abandoned spot. Today seemed like a lot of standing up and sitting down and wondering what on earth Max was doing. Pregnant lady actions made no sense to him.

He figured he must have fallen asleep for a little while, because everything was dark and silent for a little while. But then there came a sound like glass shattering on the floor and a short scream. The next thing Alec knew, Original Cindy was shouting in his face to page Logan and tell him Max was in labor.

It took a minute to process, but when it did Alec sprang into action. He dived for the phone, dialing Max's page number and hoping Logan would decide to answer it.

Alec sat impatiently by the phone, aware of Max's constant swearing and short gasps of pain while Cindy tried to keep her calm. "Dammit, Logan. Answer already." Drumming his fingers against the table, Alec stared at the phone in its cradle, willing it to ring.

A moment later, it rang and the phone was by his ear before the ring had even finished. Logan's voice filtered over the line, and Alec cut him off.

"Dude, I promise you, whatever you want to tell me is not important right now. Max is in labor, and we need to take to the hospital."

There was silence on the phone for moment before Alec was pelted with questions. "Not right now, Logan. We're taking her to Seattle Mercy Hospital, the closest one to TC."

" _I'll be there soon,"_ Logan said, before hanging up. Alec raced into the other room and scooped Max into his arms, ignoring several light punches that she threw his way. Cindy followed him quickly, figuring where they were going.

"Which hospital?" She asked, pulling the keys to the car she'd acquired for the express purpose of driving Max to the hospital out of her pocket.

"Seattle Mercy," Alec grunted, struggling to carry Max, who was struggling in his grip, groaning in pain. He hoped they got there soon.

"Goddammit," Max hissed through her teeth, clutching Alec's shirt in her fist. "Where's Logan?" She asked, her breath short.

"On his way to the hospital too. He should get there a little after us."

"Oohhh, fffuuuccckkk," Max spat out, her grip tightening. Alec hurried on towards the car just a little faster, if only so his shirt would survive Max's grip. Alec felt like he kinda wanted to tell Max "I told you so", but that didn't sound like a good idea right now.

Alec slipped Max into the back seat of the car while Original Cindy showed them both the meaning of haste. Alec grabbed Max's hand and replaced the bundle of t-shirt with his own hand, and regretted it almost instantly. The woman had a death grip like no other, and Alec himself almost started cursing in pain. But Max was already way ahead of him.

...

They were in a delivery room now, and Logan hadn't arrived yet. Alec and Cindy still sat by Max's side, while she screamed through some of the pain and kept quiet in others. Max still had Alec's hand in a death grip, but he was way past complaining. If it made Max feel any better in the slightest, then Alec wasn't going to say anything.

He glanced back at Original Cindy. "Would you go keep a look out for Logan, please?"

She nodded, though she was clearly unhappy about having to leave Max. She walked out the door, glancing back anxiously before disappearing from sight.

Max groaned again, and Alec winced in sympathy, wishing he could do something more. The doctor stood at the end of the bed, looking between Max's legs. She glanced up and said "Max? It's time, hon. You're gonna have to push."

Max shook her head angrily. "No, no. Not until Logan gets here."

"You may not have a choice. This baby is gonna come whether you want it to or no. The question is: are you going to help it?"

Max stared at the doctor a moment before her eyes drifted to Alec's. Alec squeezed her hand tighter, and Max squeezed back. Max gritted her teeth and took a deep breath, then Alec can only guess that she pushed. Max let out a pained scream that made Alec glad he wasn't female and having a baby. He was sure this was worse than being kicked in the balls.

Max screamed again, and Alec was fairly sure he felt several bones in his hand snap, though he didn't let on. Max needed him now, and he wasn't going to leave. Not unless Logan got there, and that man seemed to be taking his own sweet time. There was another hour of screaming, each time the doctor said something along the lines of "We're closer! Almost there!"

Finally though, something actually seemed to happen. Max was gasping and crying at once, and Alec was doing his best not to do the same. Then the doctor said "I see the head, Max. We're almost there, a couple more pushes!"

Max let out a pained sigh, then pushed again. She screamed louder this time, and Alec tried not imagine why, though he knew.

Cindy had explained childbirth like this to him: Imagine trying to push a cantaloupe through a hole the size of a kiwi. Alec now shuddered every time he thought of either fruit.

There was a commotion at the door, and Alec turned to look. There was Logan, struggling to get through a crowd of nurses into the room. When he finally moved past them and into the room, Max sighed, relieved. Alec did too. Max released his hand, and Logan's replaced it. Alec almost felt sorry for the guy, but he was over an hour late. Alec backed out of the room, shooting one more encouraging smile Max's way before exiting the room.

Once he did, he sat down heavily next to Cindy on one of the uncomfortable wooden benches and cradled his hand to his chest. Cindy looked at him, concerned. "You aiight, boo?"

"Yeah. I'm just tired."

"Just tired, huh? Your hand's looking kinda purple."

Alec glanced down without much surprise. "Yeah. Max did that."

Cindy winced, then reached forward and gently touched a spot darker in color than the others. Alec hissed in pain and yanked his hand away.

"Yeah, we gettin' than fixed, sugga." With that, she dragged him his other hand to the nearest nurse station.

...

Meanwhile, Max was exhausted beyond all belief and working harder than she believed she ever had before to push this kid outta her body. The doctor yelled again "Push!"

 _No, really?_ Max thought sarcastically, though tiredly. _I wouldn't ever have thought to do that myself!_

But she did. She pushed again and again and again, and suddenly she felt like she was being ripped in half. From the very center, and she screamed. Loud.

And suddenly there was crying. A baby's cry. It was a beautiful sound, and Max followed the sound with her ears, turning her head as she watching the doctor carry her baby toward a table. A moment later the doctor returned, carrying a pink-wrapped baby.

"Congratulations," the doctor said. "It's a girl." She laid the tiny bundle on Max's chest, and the transgenic's arms went immediately around her baby daughter. Max was amazed for a moment at how perfectly her daughter seemed to fit in her arms.

A smooth little face poked up at her out of the blanket, and Max almost started crying again. She could hear Logan trying to hold back his sniffles beside her, and she turned to smile at him. It was a watery smile, but it was filled with happiness. They shared the look a moment, before neither parent could take not looking at the new baby a moment longer.

That's how Cindy and Alec found them five minutes later, sitting calmly in the room with a little pink bundle in Max's arms.

"Knock, knock," Original Cindy said softly. "Am I an aunt yet?"

Max gave her a funny look. "Uh, duh. What else did you think you were gonna be?"

Cindy shrugged. Alec approached almost nervously, peering curiously at the tiny human being in Max's arms. Max smirked at him. "I'd let you hold her, but I haven't let Logan hold her yet, so you'll have to wait."

Alec chuckled. "I suppose that's fair."

Max frowned, seeing bandages wrapped around his hand. "What happened to you?"

Alec shifted, uncomfortable. "Ummm."

She gasped. "Did I do that?"

"...Maybe."

Max groaned. "God, I'm so sorry, Alec. I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

"No."

"Oh, good." Max sighed in relief, eyes returning to the baby in her arms.

"What's her name, boo?" Cindy asked.

Max glanced at Logan, who nodded. "Her name is Carly Ziva Cale," Max said, running a finger over Carly's tiny hand.

Cindy smiled. "That's a beautiful name, boo." Gently, she pulled Alec out of the room and sat down on the bench again. "I think we gotta give those two some room for a while." Alec nodded in agreement.

Back in the room, Logan jumped as if just remembering something. "Oh, Max."

She glanced up. "Yeah?"

"You remember that locket my dad gave to my mom the day I was born?"

"Yeah?"

"I figured it was more than appropriate to continue the tradition." He brought out the locket. "Ta-da!"

Max smiled, looking at her husband in surprise. "Are you...serious? You're giving me your mother's locket?"

Logan nodded. "Yeah, I am. I think my mom would have wanted me to." He unclipped the chain and put it around Max's neck. Max looked down, adjusting its place on her chest. "Thank you, Logan. Really."

He smiled back at her, then down at Carly. He reached forward, touching a finger to the baby's cheek. "Welcome to the world, Carly Ziva Cale," he whispered.

* * *

 **A/N: That's it, folks! Totally an entire story from a little piece of an episode, leading up to that tiny little ending. The rest of the thing has nothing to do with anything. I suppose I just wanted to write a happy ending for Max and Logan.**

 **And come on. You know you wanted to know what happened to Herbal. So I invented a story for him too.**

 **Let me know how I did in the reviews, would you? There's not a whole lot of Logan in this story because I'm not quite sure how to write him. He's a complicated character, and I want you guys to tell me how I did with him?**

 **PLEASE?!**

 **Hope you enjoyed the story!**

 **BYE ;3**


End file.
